File systems are employed by operating systems to define, organize and maintain the contents of a particular file or series of files present in a corresponding memory. A hierarchical file system is an exemplary file system type that employs directories to organize files in a tree structure. A shared file system, in corresponding fashion, defines, organizes and manages the contents of files that are to be accessed and/or modified by two or more operating systems, for example, Linux and Windows.
One drawback associated with typical shared file system implementations is that the operating systems that access the shared file system have to be the same. This is the result of current operating systems employing proprietary file system structures and access protocols. As such, it is currently not possible for a first operating system to access the same file system and share or otherwise update files contained within a memory managed by a second operating system, if the first and second operating systems are different, as it will be the file system of the second operating system that controls the access and organization of the underlying memory.